Russkoe Pole Buckwheat Groats, Russian 900g (2lb)

Russkoe Pole Buckwheat Groats are the roasted whole buckwheat kernels (grechka, гречка) from Russkoe Pole, a Russian food brand — the roasted buckwheat grain that is one of the most fundamental staple foods of the Russian, Ukrainian, and broader Eastern Slavic diet, as central to the Russian kitchen as rice to the Japanese table or pasta to the Italian. Russkoe Pole ('Russian field') produces the buckwheat groats in the characteristic Russian roasted style — the kernels toasted to a deep nutty-brown before packaging, giving the distinctive earthy, nutty flavor profile that distinguishes Russian grechka from the pale, unroasted buckwheat available in Western health food stores. Grechka is so embedded in Russian food culture that the word is inseparable from the concept of the Russian staple grain — the daily side dish simmered with water and finished with butter, the dinner alongside kotlety (pan-fried meat patties), the porridge eaten at breakfast, the Soviet-household staple that Russian families stockpiled in times of uncertainty and that the diaspora buys in large bags for the weekly grain rotation. Cook with the standard Russian method of two parts water to one part buckwheat in a tightly covered pan, bring to boil, reduce to the lowest simmer, and cook undisturbed until tender; finish with a generous knob of butter and serve as the classic Russian garnitura alongside fried meat patties, braised chicken, or mushroom sauce.